Sombre Hong Kong Election Day

Do these ballot box mascots entice people to vote today?

Today over 4 million Hongkongers can vote in the Legislative Council elections. One would have to be living under a rock not to know this, as there have been posters all over the city featuring three cartoon ballot boxes, and if you happen to walk along the harbourfront in North Point, those ballot box mascots are in statue form, as if voting is a kids' exercise.

There are 161 candidates vying for 90 seats, and what's interesting about this year's election is 12 lawmakers have declined to run again because they are over the age of 70. They include big names like the convenor of the Executive Council, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, and Michael Tien Puk-sun.  

Tommy Cheung Yu-yan isn't running again for the Catering functional constituency -- perhaps there will finally be someone who will be more passionate about advocating for the restaurant industry that is being depleted because of people going to Shenzhen regularly.

With so many retiring, is there enough new blood to get people's vote? One candidate people are watching is Vivian Kong Man-wai, former gold Olympic fencer who is looking for a seat in the Tourism functional constituency (one of the 12 functional constituencies that allow those with foreign passports to run), even though she is renouncing her Canadian passport.

However, the bigger question is, how many people will show up to exercise their right to vote?

In the previous election four years ago, there was a record low turnout of 30.2 percent of the over 4 million eligible voters who cast their ballots, despite the government spending HK$1.28 billion on advertising an increase of 50 percent.

That's because this is the second "patriot-only" election after the electoral system was completely revamped where only pro-Beijing candidates are allowed to run; the vast majority of pro-democracy politicians were banned from even running.

After the Wang Fuk Court fire that erupted on November 26 and has sadly claimed 159 lives, many Hong Kong residents are probably not in the mood to vote, despite the government claiming the election must take place today.

Five days ago Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said it was important to vote in new lawmakers to help launch reforms and to hold the government accountable with relief work following the devastating fire.

"The partners I need most importantly are lawmakers," Lee said on December 2. "To hold the election as scheduled is to respect the constitutional order and rule of law ... it is also to safeguard social stability as it serves as a strong support to the post-fire work."

Nevertheless, John P Burns, emeritus professor and Chinese politics expert at the University of Hong Kong expects voter turnout to be low, partly because of the Tai Po fire.

While those in the pro-establishment camp may be impressed by how quickly the authorities have re-housed victims and provided financial aid, Burns says others "may stay away from the polls" as they are "disappointed, even angry, by the governance problems the fire as exposed." 

In that vein it is possible the election results could be interpreted as a referendum on the government's handling of the Tai Po fire...

Picture of the Day: Sweet and Sour Pork on Ice

Tsui Hang Village's sweet and sour pork on ice with pineapple

We've all eaten sweet and sour pork in different variations, but how about this one?

At Tsui Hang Village in Tsim Sha Tsui, the restaurant's version is called "Sweet and Sour Pork on Ice" for HK$208 US$26.70).

When it arrived, the bite-sized pieces of the pork were served in a bowl made of ice and next to it slices of fresh pineapple. It was presented deconstructed, but had an added dimension.

Not only was there a sweet and sour taste going on, but also hot and cold! 

A Happy Mistake

A very quiet airport at 3am, walking all the way to Gate 36

I made a happy mistake when I booked my hotel accommodation. I didn't look too carefully at my flight departure time of 1am December 1, and instead had the room reserved until noon that day.

After a whirlwind trip of two weeks that packed in not only Hong Kong, but also side trips to Shenzhen, Macau, Zhongshan and my mother's hometown of Mui Yuen, just over 470km north east of Hong Kong, we were tired and ready to go home.

On November 30, we had dinner and then packed the rest of our items in our luggage and were ready to vacate our hotel room around 9pm.

We arrived at a cavernous, empty airport

But at 8.38pm we received a text message that our Cathay Pacific flight was delayed and would not depart until 4.30am December 1!

Apparently it was a maintenance issue of the aircraft. Surely CX had another plane on hand -- in its home base -- that we could use instead? But no.

So... we took a nap (well whatever shuteye we could get) and left the hotel at 1.45am to get to Hong Kong International Airport by Uber.

Our ride took just over half an hour and we entered a cavernous, empty airport.

When we checked in, the ground staff explained as compensation for the flight delay we would get HK$200 in food after we went through security. All we had to do was present our boarding pass.

"What kind of food options are there at this hour?" I asked.

"Probably McDonald's," was the reply.

How delightful...

We went through security and the immigration -- no one was even manning the booths, let alone the automated immigration clearance or e-channel.

Dumplings with noodles, soup and choy sum

All the duty-free shops had shut long ago, passed by a Labubu statue where he too had a boarding pass in his pocket, and we wandered to where there was a food court.

Thankfully there was more than just McDonald's open!

There was ramen at Bari-Uma, sandwiches and salads at Gordon Ramsay Plane Food to Go, Fujianese dishes at Putien, and finally Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop.

We went to the latter and ordered dumplings with noodles. The man at the counter encouraged us to order more food to reach HK$200, so I also had choy sum and two bottles of water.

Other than us, there were only ground staff hanging out, who either were aircraft engineers or moved luggage and cargo around.

When we finished eating, it was about time to reach our gate, Gate 36 -- down at the far end. 

Really? We had the last flight out before 7am and we had to walk all the way down to the end of the airport to board the plane.

By the time we got to the gate, we saw people already in line anxious to get on the plane, but we were kept waiting because the pilots hadn't boarded yet, nor the flight crew.

Labubu looking perky at this hour 

Passengers were exhausted and when we finally boarded, there were some terse exchanges because people didn't want to patiently wait and just wanted to get into their seats and start flying.

While the pilot apologised again, stating it was a maintenance issue of the aircraft and that it was safe to fly, many of us had already fallen asleep in our seats.

We didn't actually take off until 5am, and landed in Vancouver International Airport at just after midnight December 1.

It's a good thing I made the mistake in the hotel booking otherwise we would have been very miserable and tired hanging out in the airport for hours!

Where do Tai Po Fire Survivors Go from Here?

Wang Chi House residents grabbed items from their flats

If you were only given 90 minutes to fetch things from your home, with no reassurances you could return to live there, which items would you get?

That's what happened to the residents of Wang Chi House, the only building that was untouched in the devastating Tai Po fire last week.

On Wednesday and Thursday from 9am to 9pm, two members from each household were allowed to go into their flats for 90 minutes.

Many people went back to fill suitcases full of clothes, important documents, and treasured photographs, while others even managed to extract their washing machines. One man surnamed Suen told RTHK he went back to get some household goods as well as his game console. Everyone has different priorities...

Despite some of these Wang Chi House residents reporting their homes smelled of smoke, many interviewed in the media expect or hope to move back into the building soon.

Thousands of paper cranes memorialise victims

However, their homes may be too carcinogenic for them to return to, and there is talk that the seven burned out buildings will probably have to be demolished because they may be structurally unsafe, while those who believe in restless spirits may not want to live there again.

In the meantime many of the victims of the fire are worrying about where to live next, as they can only stay in hotels paid for by the government for two weeks and other temporary housing are already full. 

According to the Hong Kong government, 1,152 residents have accommodation in youth hostels, camps or hotel rooms, and another 1, 765 residents in transitional housing units. Others are staying at the Tai Po Community Centre or the Tung Cheong Street Community Hall. One can imagine these shelters aren't exactly comfortable and cooler temperatures are settling in for the next few months.

What is the long-term plan for these residents who may have lost loved ones, lost their homes, and lost all their possessions? They not only need financial help but also psychological counselling and support. 

It will take weeks if not months for the authorities to complete their investigations and identify all the deceased, some of them found as ash. There are also concerns that charging the 21 people arrested so far with alleged manslaughter may be hard to prove with the complexity of construction law and building regulations.

In other words it's not a cut and dried case. 

Meanwhile, despite the government trying to clear the area of grassroots volunteers and their resources, mourners continue to come to Tai Po to pay their respects with flowers, handwritten notes, and paper cranes.

It shows Hongkongers continue to be shaken by the horrific man-made disaster and demand accountability. 

Going through flats to recover victim remains

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu will be under a lot of pressure to find out how the fire started, and to punish those involved in causing the fire to spread to seven buildings, killing at least 159 people.

The authorities tried to clamp down on protests when 24-year-old student Miles Kwan was arrested and then later released without charge. He had started an online petition and passed out fliers outlining "four demands", which included guaranteed support for the victims and accountability for those at fault, including any government officials.

He was detained and charged for "seditious intention" for speaking out what many had been thinking.

In the meantime it is heartbreaking hearing Superintendent Cheng Ka-chun, the officer in charge of the Disaster Victim Identification describe the grim task of how he and his team have gone floor by floor to find victim remains.

"Our colleagues, in a bid to keep the bodies more intact for their return to their families, chose to dig for the bodies using their hands, touching sand, mud and polluted water," he said, when explaining why they chose to recover corpses by hand instead of using equipment.

"Their only goal was to preserve the integrity of the bodies."

This demonstrates how they are doing their utmost to respect the victims and their loved ones, taking time and care to preserve the remains the best they can.

Hongkongers looking after Hongkongers. This is the Lion Rock Spirit.

Hongkongers Search for Answers After Inferno

At least 156 people have died from the fire. Credit Getty Images

I have just returned from a two-week trip to Hong Kong and China, and like everyone else, am devastated by the Tai Po inferno that killed at least 156 people. As the authorities comb through the wreckage of the seven buildings, the number of dead will only continue to rise.

In the afternoon of November 26, my relatives and I had finished lunch in Macau, and then went to the Hengqin border where we were driven to Zhongshan to see my uncle's apartment.

Periodically I began getting news updates about a fire in Tai Po and it became very shocking when I started seeing the video footage of the flames engulfing the mesh that covered the bamboo scaffolding.

As the number of casualties began to rise I wondered what was going on. Did residents think fires didn't happen in concrete buildings?

Later it was revealed the buildings were undergoing an extensive renovation of the exterior, costing around HK$160,000 (US$20,546) per flat. Their windows were sealed with styrofoam material to prevent debris from damaging the glass, and much of the green mesh covering the scaffolding were not fire-resistant.

Stories subsequently came out from survivors who told of being completely unaware their building was on fire until their loved ones called them. Even the firefighters could not reach them because the scaffolding was in the way and the fire temperature was so hot.

There were reports the government wanted to phase out bamboo scaffolding in favour of metal -- this was quickly dismissed by passionate Hongkongers who made videos trying to set bamboo sticks alight, or explaining to people outside of the city that bamboo is a building material that has been used for over 100 years.

After having experienced a relatively small fire in my neighbourhood in August last year, when a six-storey wood-construction condo building was on fire. The cause is still unknown. The two fire chiefs at the scene recently told us residents that the fire was so hot, they didn't even imagine that the construction crane would melt and collapse the way it did.

So to say that metal would be safer is very hard to say; it would probably make the fire even hotter.

It took over two days for firefighters to have the flames of the Tai Po fire under control.

Meanwhile grassroots groups saw the news and began coming together with water, blankets and food for the affected residents and firefighters. They just setup near the area and gave victims whatever they needed. It was so heartening to see them rally behind these residents who have lost their homes, or worse their loved ones. Some lost their pets, unable to get inside, as firefighters and police stopped them because it was so dangerous with the falling debris and the heat.

But after extensive media coverage of how these NGOs and local groups had mobilised so quickly, donating clothes, food, water, even their electric cars for people to charge their phones, the Hong Kong government cleared everyone out; perhaps the scenes are too reminiscent of what happened over six years ago, or even 11 years ago, when protesters were on the streets...

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged a judge will lead a committee to investigate the cause of the fire; perhaps his administration, particularly the Labour Department should have listened to residents' concerns about the green mesh not being fire resistant and witnessing the construction workers smoking on site. While warnings were issued by the Labour Department, it seems punishment was not enforced.

Some survivors have raged about being forced to pay HK$160,000 in renovation fees, only to have their homes go up in smoke. 

As a friend said to me, governments are not prepared for disasters, but it is how they deal with them is what matters. 

Two days ago actor Chow Yun-fat opened the MAMA Awards by speaking in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, asking the audience to stand up for a moment of silence to pay tribute to the victims of the Tai Po fire. He was genuinely upset and felt this was an important gesture for Hong Kong.

The government declared three days of mourning from Friday to Sunday. Thousands of mourners descended on Tai Po, creating a 2km line, patiently waiting to walk closer to the makeshift alter near the fire-ravaged buildings where they left flowers, handwritten notes and toys. 

Hongkongers will never forget this horrific tragedy, nor will they stop finding out who should be accountable.

A mainlander, Jiang Yaling, who writes the Follow the Yuan on Substack, commented how the Hong Kong authorities deal with victims very differently from in China. Typically if a disaster happens, the victims and families are immediately shuffled into hotel rooms and forbidden from speaking to the media; she was very surprised to see how Hongkongers were able to speak freely with emotion...

For now a lot of fundraising has been done, over HK$1.3 billion raised. But where exactly will all this aid go? Will victims get the money directly? Or will it be given to charity groups? Where are people going to live now? They can't live in hotel rooms for weeks on end. And what kind of compensation will they get? 

All eyes are on the Hong Kong authorities. Will they step up and serve the people as they have promised?

At least 13 Dead in a Massive Taipo Blaze

The fires are still burning in a Taipo housing estate

***As of 10am November 27 HK time there are 44 dead, 279 missing***

Hong Kong is on edge watching fires still raging nine hours later engulfing several buildings in a housing estate in Taipo, where at least 13 people, including one firefighter died in the No. 5 blaze, the highest rating in severity. 

The residential buildings at Wang Fuk Court were covered in bamboo scaffolding when the fires broke out this afternoon after 3pm. Currently there are reports of 70 people still trapped, 200 missing. 

News reports say 128 fire trucks, 57 ambulances, 767 firefighters and 400 police officers were deployed to the scene.

According to the New York Times, a 74-year-old resident heard a firefighter pounding on his door to evacuate after 3pm, but he and his wife refused to move and it wasn't until three hours later they were rescued. 

Andy Yeung Yan-kin, Hong Kong's director of fire services said the heat was so hot inside the buildings it was difficult to rescue people.

The city's residents will not be sleeping tonight; some have brought noodles, bread and water to rescuers and victims.

This fire reminds me of the November 1996 Garley Building fire in Jordan where 41 people died, making it the worst building fire in Hong Kong in peacetime. One of the casualties was an acquaintance's brother who was a firefighter.

However, this Taipo fire may be worse at this rate.

We are all anxiously watching.

Next Level Cantonese Dining

Whole roasted piglet presented before it was chopped up

Last night we had dinner at Congee Noodle House on Broadway and Main Street. It's a Cantonese-style institution that has been open for over 20 years, though it was temporarily shut for three years from the end of January 2020, when the retaining wall at a nearby construction site collapsed during a heavy rainfall, which caused a sinkhole. As a result part of the parking lot in the back caved in and fell into the excavation pit.

Braised goose webs, fish maw and pea shoots

At the time people worried this restaurant, which mostly serves piping hot tureens of congee, fried noodles and fried rice, and other family-style dishes was closed for good.

But in May 2023 Congee Noodle House was back open, complete with renovations inside and since then has had a steady stream of business despite construction of the subway on the road right in front.

The restaurant doesn't just serve basic dishes; at the back, groups of diners in private rooms can eat classic Cantonese dishes, like whole roast piglet, stir-fried lobster with vermicelli, deep-fried shrimp meat on crab claws, steamed fish, and salt-baked chicken.

We had some of the aforementioned menu items, as well as braised goose webs with collagen-rich fish maw artfully decorated on a bed of dau miu or pea shoots, and plump sui gao or dumplings filled with shrimp, pork and vegetables with egg noodles in soup.

Caramelised eggplant is next level culinary skill

However one dish stood out -- an off-menu item -- caramelised eggplant. Much in the same vein as caramelised banana, the eggplant chunks were probably steamed and then pan-fried in sugar that was starting to turn into a caramel colour.

The end result is a slightly crunchy exterior, and soft, tender interior. Not easy to make, but boy the result was amazing.

Congee Noodle House

141 East Broadway

Vancouver, BC

604 879 8221

Beijing Memory with a Cuppa

"Forbidden City Starbucks" 2001 by Gu Xiong

At the Vancouver Public Library downtown this afternoon I spied this photograph on the eighth floor. 

It's a picture of a building in the Forbidden City where they once had a Starbucks. It's called "Forbidden City Starbucks" taken by Gu Xiong in 2001.

I remember visiting Beijing and seeing it there and thinking it was so odd seeing an American brand in the grounds where emperors used to live. Visitors could sip on cappuccinos next to the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

The Starbucks there opened in 2000, and caused a big uproar from locals and foreigners alike. Seven years later TV host Rui Chenggang penned a blog post railing about the American coffee chain in the Forbidden City, saying it "tramples over Chinese culture".

His blog post led to half a million people signing a petition to have Starbucks removed, which happened about six months later. 

He said he wasn't against Starbucks, as he did drink the brand of coffee, Rui objected to it being in the Forbidden City.

An interesting post script is that in 2014 Rui was detained on suspicion of bribery and sentenced to prison for over five years. But it wasn't until 2024 did he re-emerge, but on YouTube, which is banned in China.

Picture of the Day: Late Afternoon Light

It was still bright out at 4.15pm today

I go for walks almost daily, but today was sidetracked by other things and didn't head out until after 4pm.

It was relatively bright out after a whole morning of pouring buckets of rain, so it was nice to see blue skies and the sun.

But what a difference one hour makes!

Thanks to clocks being set back one hour a week ago, by around 5.30pm it was already getting dark!

Will remember not to set out so late anymore... winter is coming...

Window Shopping with a Glass of Wine

Sampling one of a few BC wines tonight

This evening went to Holt Renfrew downtown to a VIP event for customers to sample some BC wines from a few wineries in the Okanagan. The luxury department store stayed open for well-heeled guests to sip whites, reds, and sparkling, eat a few canapes and wander two floors in the hopes they might get a jump on their Christmas shopping.

A pair of Jellycat marshmallows 

For some reason I was drawn to the Jellycat collection, which has come out with even more niche products, other than its plush bunnies, bears and dogs.

How about a pair of pink and white marshmallows? At around $35 they might be too rich to go with your hot chocolate.

There were plushie gingerbread houses, and even a letter addressed to Santa Claus.

But it was this grey roll with eyes and a smile that was intriguing. What the heck was this supposed to be?

I had to look at the label -- it's goat cheese.

Not cheddar, brie or parmesan, goat cheese.

"Originally from the pastures of Southern France, Amuseables Goat Cheese moved to London to pursue his dreams: becoming a world renowned perfumer. A bold ambition for a cheese, perhaps, but he has the nose for it," says the Jellycat description.

How about a goat cheese plushie?

Maybe they should have given out these little furry grey rolls to go with our wines?

Picture of the Day: Clouds Not Northern Lights

Can you see the Northern Lights in the clouds?

A severe solar storm over parts of Canada and the United States was supposed to result in people being able to see the Northern Lights tonight. 

It was advised to go outside around 11pm to midnight to an area with few lights to see the Aurora Borealis through smartphones, so we bundled up and headed to the nearby park.

But when we got there and tried to take some pictures, all we saw were clouds! Earlier in the day there were clear skies, but the clouds have gathered as Vancouver is forecasted to get rain tomorrow morning...

Review: The Space Architect

Adams designed living spaces for astronauts

After watching the documentary Changing Lanes, I had a quick break eating a Japanese sausage roll (a sausage wrapped in a croissant-like fluffy, flaky pastry), I returned to VIFF to watch The Space Architect, directed by Rebecca Carpenter.

Who's the space architect? It's Constance Adams, a woman who took her skills as an architect and applied them to space, imagining how astronauts live outside of the Earth, what their lives will be like, what they would need, and how they would survive.

She got to experience zero gravity

But she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and contacted Carpenter, her college classmate who is a filmmaker, asking her to come film her last words.

Carpenter rushed over to Houston and filmed Adams, who by this point was quite ill, needing oxygen to help her breathe. Dressed in a green shirt and black vest, Adams looked very animated, and her nails were painted bright red.

She got a bachelors degree in social studies at Harvard, then a masters in architecture at Yale. She interned with Cesar Pelli, then went to Tokyo to work for the architectural firm Kenzo Tange, then Berlin to work for Josef Paul Kleihues.

However, the economy in Germany wasn't doing well following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Adams returned to the US to interview for a firm in Houston. While she was there she toured NASA and thought it was so interesting she left them her resume.

Her inflatable TransHub project

They later contacted her and asked if she was still interested. She was. Lockheed Martin hired her as a consultant and she worked on various projects, though she was best known for TransHab, or Transit Habitat, an inflatable module where astronauts could live and work.

Her way of solving problems was to gather all different kinds of experts together, from engineers to psychologists to talk about various scenarios and imagine what it would be like to live in space and how that would affect design and architecture in space.

Adams says all her work with NASA isn't really about humans going into space and finding the final frontier, it's about finding ways for humans to survive on Earth with climate change happening. To find solutions, she created the Mothership project.

Towards the end of the film, it says that four days after Carpenter finished filming, Adams died at the age of 53.

We were lucky that Carpenter came to Vancouver to talk to audiences after the screening. She started by saying Adams wanted her to tell everyone to get a colonoscopy after the age of 50... if she had done so she would have detected the cancer earlier.

Then she talked about filming Adams, that she was sicker than she thought she was, and they did the best they could.

Adams when she was filmed in 2018

After filming wrapped, Carpenter didn't know what she had and let her daughter watch some raw footage; she said this woman is iconic, and that her story had to be told. Her daughter's friend said the same, and so did a film editor friend.

Then the pandemic hit and Carpenter couldn't deal with this project while isolating, finding it a depressing subject. But it seems like it was a group of women in the film industry who encouraged Carpenter to keep going, and they helped her out to eventually finish the film this year.

Adams' daughters have seen the film and say it captures their mother well, and Carpenter confirms they are doing well under the guardianship of Adams' friend.

One audience member asked Carpenter what she learned from making this film and she replied that she is so grateful for every moment, sharing the moment of being with us, being thankful for everything... it seemed like she basically meant that she was grateful to be alive.

Adams accomplished so much in her short time on Earth, and we need to remember trailblazers like her, and be inspired by her great ambitions for all of us.

The Space Architect

Directed by Rebecca Carpenter

40 minutes

Review: Changing Lanes

Changing Lanes looks at how to make streets safer

The Architecture & Design Film Festival was on this week and I caught two documentaries back to back. Most of the audience at the VIFF were architects, low key but cool dressing, talking shop with their colleagues in the waiting area.

The first film was Changing Lanes directed by Ben Wolf and while it's about an area in Brooklyn, New York, it applies to any neighbourhood that is fighting to make things better. Wolf notes at the beginning of the film that he made the entire documentary by hauling equipment with his bicycle.

It opens with the death of a beloved elementary school teacher who was killed in a hit-and-run accident at Greenpoint and the residents in the area as well as grassroots activists mourn his death, and also call for the street to be designed safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Activists rally for safer streets for pedestrians

When cities first sprang into life, there were no street lights because there were horse-drawn carriages and people walked or ran. But with the advent of cars, people were getting killed trying to cross the street. 

One activist explains it's the carmakers who blamed the accidents on the pedestrians, creating the word "jaywalking" and making it a crime for people to cross the street willy nilly, when it was something they did before cars existed.

Mayor Ed Koch tried to make New York more bike friendly and turned 6th and 7th avenues into bike lanes, but car drivers hated it and then the bike lanes were soon gone.

It wasn't until Michael Bloomberg in 2012 hired Janette Sadik-Khan as transportation commissioner did they begin bringing in bike lanes and started the Citi Bike sharing program. It also made political sense -- mayors who bring in bike lanes get re-elected again and again.

Hmmm maybe not Gregor Robertson, who got voted out of City Hall in Vancouver...

But we digress.

Numerous activists and pro-cycling people appear in Changing Lanes, most notably musician David Byrne, who is filmed riding his bike and explaining how it helps him get around the city and meet people, something he continues to do while on tour.

Byrne admits it can be dangerous cycling in NYC

There's someone who used to work at the city's transportation department, and Sadik-Khan, while activists hold rallies to get people to support their cause, but they get pushback from a businessman in the area who thinks redesigning the street will affect his business.

At first current Mayor Eric Adams is for changing the street design at Greenpoint, but then backs off; it turns out the businessman gave Adams a lot of money and was eventually indicted along with Adams.

So Changing Lanes shows that grassroots activism is important to voice your opinion, but also money can sway politicians to not necessarily do what's best for the community.

Redesigning streets, activists argue, will give people options of how they want to get around the city. Building more lanes doesn't necessarily relieve traffic james; in many cases it makes the situation worse. It was found that with more bike lanes, local businesses saw increases in customer sales because it was more accessible in terms of pedestrian and cyclists.

This is something all mayors should think about when considering how to make their cities better.

Changing Lanes

Directed by Ben Wolf

73 minutes

 

Delicious Gluten-Free Bites at Saan Saan Cafe

The other day I took my friend visiting from Toronto to eat in Vancouver's Chinatown. Well on the edge of Chinatown, dodging the homeless people along the way. 

Saan Saan Cafe has been open for over a year and it's a gluten-free cha chaan teng offering savoury and sweet items along with drinks from Hong Kong-style milk tea and yuenyeung (coffee and tea), to cocktails from Friday to Sunday.

The cafe is housed in a building that owner Eric Siu's multi-generational family lived in since 1950 when his grandparents moved in with his father and aunt.

After family members moved out, the building, which was constructed in 1904, fell into disrepair. Siu and his two siblings discussed for years what to do with the space and decided to turn it into a cafe.

It's extremely helpful that Siu is a practicing architect, though he says there was a lot more work that needed to be done, from replacing old pipes and installing new electrical wires.

The end result is a high-ceilinged space that is very welcoming and comfortable. The washrooms are also nicely decorated!

It's also helpful that Siu's siblings, Sarena is a registered dietician, and Jamie is a food scientist, to develop gluten-free items for the cafe.

The focus on gluten-free food is due to Siu's sensitivity which has resulted in him not being able to eat a lot of Chinese food in conventional restaurants; Saan Saan Cafe allows him and others to eat food they used to enjoy, or introduce it to friends or partners with celiac disease or other gluten sensitivities.

They started offering baked goods, like black sesame caramel, and pineapple coconut cookie, a mash-up between bolo bao and cocktail buns, and char siu triangle puffs. 

A few months ago they introduced a savoury menu and I finally tried them the other day.

We sampled the soy sauce chicken, which is pretty straight forward, some chopped chicken on a bed of rice. The chicken is tender, and has lots of flavour in every bite. It's a substantial portion which is good to share.

Another is curry fish balls which are usually made with gluten to give them their bouncy "QQ" texture. Here they are homemade and have more of a meatball texture. But with the delicious curry sauce and gluten-free, it's still decent and the sauce is a good way to finish off the rice in the first dish.

Our favourite has to be the prawn toast, a thick meaty chopped shrimp filling in between white bread that has been deep-fried and then sliced in half. It's slightly crunchy on the outside, and firm and slightly bouncy in the middle, and the sweetness of the prawns come through.

I had a glass of refreshing Ribena lime soda, my friend had the iced Hong Kong milk tea.

We were full by the time we finished everything and got some cookies (brown butter hojicha chocolate and pineapple coconut) to go.

Saan Saan Cafe

227 Main Street

Vancouver, BC

Sweet Sips at Sweet 7

The signature mango pomelo sago drink

There's many bubble tea shops in Metro Vancouver, and we've taken a liking to Sweet 7, which is originally from Shanghai.

Started in 2006 as a dessert shop, there are now over 1,500 Sweet 7 shops around the world, with two here, one in downtown Vancouver, the other in Richmond.

The menu is mostly drinks made in large cups. Back in the summer I ordered the signature mango pomelo sago and the portion was so large, I mixed it and poured it into bowls to share with my parents! We quite enjoyed it as a dessert.

Mango and passionfruit slush

This afternoon I took a friend visiting from Toronto to Sweet 7 downtown and she ordered that signature drink, while I tried the mango passionfruit slush.  It's fruity sweet, it's got passionfruit seeds and slushy ice, making it easy to drink and get a brain freeze.

While the menu features so many different kinds of drinks divided into various sections, to help you make up your mind faster, there are suggestions of which are the most popular drinks: other than the signature mango pomelo sago, there's Oreo cheesecake milk tea, passionfruit green tea, and matcha cheesy smoothie.

Guess that means I need to go back again!

Learning from Last Year's Fire

Fire at West 41st and Collingwood

Last August my parents and I were sitting at home about to eat dinner when we heard three big booms south of us.

I went outside to take a look and didn't see anything.

But then there were more explosion sounds and I walked down to the end of the block. From this vantage point looking south down the hill I could see a big black plume of smoke south east of us. As I walked down two blocks closer to the fire I saw giant flames beyond the tall trees. It was a frightening sight.

Saw giant black plume of smoke, fire

Later on social media there were videos of the six-storey building that was under construction was completely on fire. Another clip showed the building crane "melt" and fall away from the site, crashing onto the road. Luckily no one was there, and the fire truck had just moved away from that spot!

Then there was a commotion across the street from us -- our neighbour's roof was smouldering thanks to flying embers. The fire fighters told us to survey our roofs to see if there was any smoke. Luckily we were OK, but it was a scary lesson in how fires can easily start.

This evening three fire servicemen from the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services came to our neighbourhood meeting to talk about that fire, and two of them were on the ground fighting it.

They explained that since 2009 the City of Vancouver has allowed wood construction for six-storey buildings which was adopted in the building code. According to these fire service men, these buildings are faster to build, use sustainable material, and in this case, the rules around construction and safety were all followed before the fire. 

Unfortunately they still don't know the cause of the fire; a private investigator is working on the case for insurance purposes, but will not share their findings with the fire service...

The building was near completion, with insulation, a very light material stored on the roof -- these were the embers that flew several blocks away onto our porches and roofs causing a few fires here and there.

So when the firemen arrived, the fire was so hot, they had to wear their fire gloves right away. Luckily fire prevention materials were installed in the house next to the construction site which saved the other houses further along from bursting into flames from the sheer heat.

Embers landed at our home

Nevertheless, when they tried to fight the fire on the construction site, the water completely dissipated because the fire was so hot. They could only make sure the other houses did not catch fire and that the occupants were evacuated. No one was killed, but the crane fell onto a house, and the person happened to be in the washroom, and the crane missed him! The firefighters had to extract him from the window.

There are 21 fire stations in the city, but they were also pre-occupied with a big fire that engulfed an abandoned apartment building on East 10th. Hours later the fire near us erupted.

The VFRS called on Richmond and Burnaby to help out -- Richmond came because they are on the same radio frequency, Burnaby is on a different one. Richmond was helpful in putting out smaller fires in the area, but it showed the VFRS need to know how to deploy people when there's more than one major fire. The fire captain also admitted he had no idea how thirsty his firefighters were until they said they needed water.

VFRS learned a lot from the fire, such as the need to communicate with the public, staffing issues, and that cranes can collapse in fires, and calling for help from other jurisdictions. Early next year people with smartphones will receive messages in case you live in a certain area where there is a fire and give instructions on what to do.

As for homeowners, it's best to change from cedar shingle roofs to asphalt ones, which we just did this summer. They suggested ensuring gutters are clean, and try to keep trees a maximum height of three metres tall, or at least prune as much as possible and keep yards tidy. Firewood should not be stacked up by the house, and if there is a fire nearby, close the windows and turn on the garden hose and keep the house as wet as possible.

It was a stimulating discussion and we all learned a lot! Needless to say we thanked the three fire services men for their work in putting out the fire eventually and keeping the rest of us safe!

Picture of the Day: Pileated Woodpecker

A Pileated Woodpecker pecking at a tree

Yesterday during my walk in Pacific Spirit Park, I heard a knocking kind of noise. I looked to my left and saw a woodpecker! Specifically a Pileated woodpecker which is native to North America. 

He/she was not high up on the tree but just above my head, about a metre and a half away. Unlike the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker, who would drill a hole into a tree in seconds, this one would lean back then peck at the wood, with the chips flying, then crane his neck back, turning it left and maybe right and then his beak would chisel into the wood again.

The bird with a red trim at the top followed by black and white on its head, and the black the rest of its body, continued with its task to either create a cavity to raise its young, or try to extract insects from the tree.

Pileated woodpeckers are also known for making rectangular carvings in trees and this one did too!  

Canada Back on China's Approved Travel List

Chinese tourists like to visit Vancouver's Stanley Park

Tour companies geared towards Chinese groups are excited that Canada is back on the approved destination status list. 

Chinese tour groups stopped coming to Canada when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, and relations between China and Canada were on the rocks because of the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and the subsequent detention of the two Michaels, Spavor and Kovrig.

But now that Prime Minister Mark Carney has reset relations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, there may be some deals in the future, though critics are concerned that human rights violations are being sidelined. 

While Canada is not as large a market as the United States, China is probably keen to divide and conquer North America. Does this mean Chinese electric vehicles in Canada are in the cards? 

In the meantime, we could see the resurgence of Chinese tour groups in Canada as early as Chinese New Year, which is February 17 next year. One tour operator, Glynnis Chan of Happy Times Travel says Chinese groups usually spend six weeks in Canada, visiting places like Vancouver's Stanley Park, the Rocky Mountains and Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and easily dropping $1,300 a day.

"[Monday's] news was like a shot in the arm to the local tourism industry, and I am ready to show them the beauty of the country," she said in an interview with the Canadian Press.

Individual Chinese tourists can travel to Canada, but it's the groups that bring more visitors.

One can only imagine not only tour operators are thrilled, but also Chinese restaurants that used to cater to these tourists will surely be gearing up to welcome them and their hungry stomachs...

The Delicious Taste of Shunde Cuisine

Braised winter melon with crab roe and conpoy sauce

Shunde is a city of 3.2 million people located in between Hong Kong in the south, and Guangzhou in the north. Established during the Ming dynasty in 1452, Shunde is the birthplace of Cantonese opera, and Cantonese cuisine, making it a Unesco designated City of Gastronomy.

In general, Shunde cuisine is focused on fresh ingredients, such as fresh water fish like carp, rice, milk, such as buffalo milk, poultry like chicken and pigeon, and flowers. 

Flavourful Shunde soy sauce chicken

A restaurant in Richmond called A Bite of Shunde transports diners to the southern Chinese city with some delicious dishes that are different from Hong Kong-style Cantonese ones.

One is a soup called hand pulled fish soup, where the fresh water fish is pan-fried first. Once it's cooked, the fish meat is extracted from the bones and placed in a thick soup that includes ribbons of bean curd skin, wood ear fungus, and thinly sliced carrots.

Another soupy item is Chencun rice noodles in a deluxe chicken broth. The broth has a strong chicken taste, ensuring it hasn't been diluted much, and rice noodles soak up the flavour. It was total comfort food.

Impressive shrimp balls on silver bean sprouts

Speaking of chicken, the soy sauce chicken was also outstanding, better than the crispy chicken that is presented to the table standing upright with a pole through it. Then the staff proceeds to break the bird apart by hand which is quite unnecessary.

An interesting dish to watch cooked in front of us was steamed fresh Lingcod. It is deboned and thinly sliced and placed in a steamer and cooked in about two minutes and then dipped in soy sauce with chillis. The fish tasted sweet.

We were impressed by the flying fish caviar shrimp balls on a bed of "silver" bean sprout, where the head and tail of the bean sprouts were meticulously removed. The texture of the shrimp balls revealed the paste was made by hand chopping the shrimp, a laborious task, but the end result is a bouncy texture.

For vegetables, winter melon made an appearance in a poetically described "celebration of gold and emerald", when it is braised winter melon squares topped with a sauce of crab roe and conpoy. The presentation of the nine squares is artistic and not easy to present.

A Shunde specialty -- pan-fried milk with prawns

The test of a Shunde chef is seeing if they can make pan-fried milk. In Shunde buffalo milk is used, which is creamier, but here it's cow's milk that is mixed with egg white and it's not about stirring the mixture, but watching the heat and keeping it consistent. The end result is a fluffy milk finished with prawns. 

And Shunde cuisine isn't complete without claypot rice. Ours had various kinds of lap cheong of Chinese sausage steamed with the rice and some vegetable, and a dark soy sauce was poured into the claypot and mixed in thoroughly before being portioned out into bowls. The best part was the fan jiu, or the crispy edge of the rice.

Double-steamed milk custard

For dessert we had the well-known double steamed milk custard. Apparently in Shunde, a good one has the spoon laying on the surface of the custard, not sinking into it, which shows how thick it is. We all just lapped it up, it was so good, not too sweet.

A Bite of Shunde

4653 Garden City Road, #2215

Richmond, BC

+1 604 284 0119

https://www.instagram.com/abiteofshunde/ 

Asian Food Court Eats

Beef rendang and flaky roti at the Aberdeen Centre food court

A friend arrived from Toronto and I picked her up at Vancouver International Airport around 11am and she wanted to eat something Asian.

So we headed to the food court at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond.

On the weekdays this place is quiet, but this being a Sunday, it was busy! It wasn't too hard to find a table, but the vast majority of them were occupied.

We wandered around a bit to check out what was available and settled on sharing a northern Chinese set meal that included spring onion cake, some chive and pork dumplings, stir-fried thin slices of lamb in a slightly sweet soy sauce, and a small bowl of fake shark's fin soup (very thin vermicelli), with ribbons of bean curd skin, and wood ear mushroom.

For drinks we headed to a juice bar, where she had the drink equivalent of mango pomelo sago, while I had a combination of mango and papaya slush that was quite sweet.

Our set meal wasn't quite enough so I headed to a Malaysian stall and ordered the beef rendang. The server asked if I wanted rice or roti and chose the latter. We were not disappointed! The chunks of beef were so tender in the thick curry sauce that wasn't spicy at all. We dipped the flaky roti in there and it was delicious.

That was so filling we didn't need dessert!

Meanwhile there were more people queuing up for food and I was impressed to see practically all the stands doing decent business, with people of all ages dining here.

Heartbreaking Loss for the Toronto Blue Jays in World Series

The Dodgers won the World Series 5-4 in the 11th inning

What a heartbreaker! The Toronto Blue Jays were soooo close to winning their first World Series in 23 years and then it slipped away, letting the Los Angeles Dodgers win 5-4 and clinch their second consecutive title.

The Jays were a Cinderella team, at the bottom of the league last year, and then with more than half the team consisting of young players, they managed to end up in the World Series.

There was lots of talk abut Trey Yesavage, only 22 years old and pitching for the first time in the majors, and George Springer hitting that home run that propelled the Jays to the World Series. 

Blue Jays came a long way to the World Series

In tonight's game Bo Bichette helped put the Jays in a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but they lost the advantage as the Dodgers climbed back to make it 3-4, then it was tied at 4-4 in the 9th inning and had to keep playing until the Jays blinked in the 11th.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider fought back tears as he faced reporters in the post-game press conference.

"We had our chances. We had our chances to beat them soundly. But we didn't. And that's baseball," he said.

It's crazy because in the afternoon pundits, including those who follow the analytics, were expecting (or perhaps hoping?) the Jays would win. 

Part way through the game, superstar pitcher Shohei Ohtani ran out of gas -- perhaps from not enough rest -- and the responsibility was left to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had three wins in the series under his belt, making him the World Series MVP.

While the Dodgers have many top (well paid) players, the Blue Jays scraped their way to the top which makes their entry into the World Series even more remarkable. 

They gave Canadians something to rally behind and make us all proud to be... Canadian.

Halloween Trick-or-Treat Report 2025

Giant pumpkin skeleton greets trick-or-treaters

It's Halloween Night and... it was kind of dead... in a bad way.

We went to our usual haunts and the kids were very disappointed to see a lot of houses without their lights on.

Perhaps it's because it was Game 6 in the World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays battling the Los Angeles Dodgers right when trick-or-treaters are knocking on doors for candy.

These two have waited so long...

Or the weather forecast was for heavy rain so people didn't bother to buy candy, thinking pint-sized witches, Lego men and walking pizza slices wouldn't come. No one went as a Blue Jays fan.

Maybe people's budgets are so stretched, they can't afford to shell out for bite-sized candy bars. 

Another reason might be because people have moved out of the area, though could there have been so many who have fled the neighbourhood?

In any event, we started late this year, just after the rain stopped around 8pm. Some had decorations up, but didn't answer the door, possibly because they had already run out of candy?

We could see some houses with big screen televisions showing the baseball game -- but the Jays were defeated by the Dodgers 3-1, which means the final deciding game is tomorrow!

The houses that still had candy just before 9pm were generous, trying to offload as much as possible to avoid cavities.